WALLA WALLA, Wash. — Clark Wininger and Oscar Wight picked up singles victories on Saturday at the Bratton Indoor Tennis Center in the No. 31 Boxers' 7-2 neutral site loss to No. 20 Gustavus Adolphus.
 
In the first match of the 2017 season, held at Whitman College, the Boxers dropped three team points in doubles play, despite three close decisions as the match began.
 
At No. 1 doubles, Wininger (San Francisco, Calif.) and Wight (Adelaide, Australia) dropped an 8-5 decision to Mohanad Alhouni and Chase Johnson, while at No. 3 the duo of Sage Katayama (Mililani, Hawaii) and Rayden Murata (Honolulu, Hawaii) fell 8-6 to David Hagberg and Michael O'Neil. The final doubles match came at No. 2 as Josh Bernstein (Novato, Calif.) and Reuben Mulhern (Boise, Idaho) dropped an 8-4 decision.
 
"We battled hard today against a very solid Gustavus Adolphus team," said head coach Brian Jackson. "Unfortunately, we felt that we gave away some opportunities in doubles, which would have given us a better position going into singles. Against a good team like this, you have to capitalize on your chances."
 
The top two players in the singles lineup for Pacific picked up big wins against Gustavus Adolphus as Wight won in three sets over Ekstein, battling after dropping the second set and winning in a 10-point tiebreak.
 
"Oscar played some great tennis early, and was able to hold off a strong surge from his opponent by putting together some great stuff in the 10-point tiebreaker," Jackson said.
 
The signature win of the first day of the season came at No. 1 singles as Wininger knocked off the No. 3 singles player in the country with a three-set victory over Alhouni.
 
Alhouni topped Wininger in the opening set, 3-6, before the Boxer number one took the match on set two and three victories of 7-5 and 10-7, respectively.
 
"Clark ran into a buzz-saw in the first set at number one," Jackson said. "He played some inspired tennis to grab the second, and close out the match in a 10-point tiebreak. This is a fantastic win for Clark, and arguably one of the best wins in Pacific history, as his opponent is currently ranked as the number three player in the country."
 
"Great play by our top two guys, who showed great fight to pull out their singles matches," Jackson continued.
 
The Boxers get another chance to compete against a top squad, playing No. 9 Pomona-Pitzer at 9 a.m. on Sunday morning in Walla Walla.
 
"We learned a lot from today, and hope to take another step forward tomorrow against a very strong Pomona-Pitzer team," Jackson said.